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Butterflies at record low after wet summer of 2007 – 24 April 2008

Small Tortoiseshell butterfly - image supplied by Ian Draycott Britain’s butterflies need good weather in the coming months to recover from last year’s dreadful summer, the wettest since records began.

Butterflies do not fly in the rain, making it impossible for them to reach the plants on whose nectar they feed. Heavy rain also means they are unable to breed.

New figures for 2007 reveal that as a consequence of the constant wet weather, butterflies suffered their worst year for over a quarter of a century. Several species had their lowest ever recorded numbers.

The statistics come from the UK Butterfly Monitoring Scheme (UKBMS), operated jointly by the charity Butterfly Conservation and the Centre for Ecology & Hydrology (CEH). Each year it collates data collected by thousands of volunteers. The UKBMS measures the status of 51 butterfly species and for almost three quarters of these, numbers seen in 2007 were much lower than the preceding year.

Small Skipper butterfly - image supplied by Ian Draycott Dr David Roy, CEH’s lead butterfly scientist commented: "Butterflies are very sensitive to weather and the wet summer conditions in 2007 certainly had a detrimental affect on most of our species."

The UKBMS results show that eight butterfly species were at an all-time low in 2007 - the Common Blue, the Grayling, the Lulworth Skipper, the Small Skipper, the Small Tortoiseshell, the Speckled Wood and the Wall. Other species that suffered badly included the High Brown Fritillary and the Duke of Burgundy, both already victims of years of decline.

Dr Roy added “Although numbers of insects can vary greatly from year-to-year and a warm summer in 2008 will see many species recover, these results are of most concern for some of our rapidly declining species such as the Grayling and Wall. Both these species were once a common sight each summer but are now becoming increasingly rare in the British countryside.”

Conservationists are waiting anxiously to see if Britain’s butterflies manage to recover this year. They fear that last year’s problems, and the knock-on effect on breeding, will exacerbate the downward spiral of many of our butterfly species.

Butterflies are increasingly being recognised as valuable environmental indicators, both for their rapid and sensitive responses to subtle habitat or climatic changes and as representatives for the diversity and responses of other wildlife.

Biodiversity Minister Joan Ruddock has promised that the Government will support schemes to help promote a recovery in butterfly numbers. She said: "Butterflies are a vital element of the British summer. Their numbers indicate whether or not there are problems in the countryside. Butterfly populations also indicate the speed and extent of climate change. We will provide every encouragement for those working to conserve them.”

Additional information

The UK Butterfly Monitoring Scheme is funded by Defra and a consortium of government agencies.

There have been two other bad years for butterflies since the UK Butterfly Monitoring Scheme was set up 33 years ago, both stemming from extremes of weather. The worst was 1981, the last really chilly summer of recent times when the average peak UK temperature was a mere 14.1C (57.1F). The other was 1977, which followed the severe drought of the previous summer, from which some of our rarest species have never fully recovered.